Dressage and BHS!

[fleabitten]

First session of BHS today, sorry for long report! - thrown in at the deep end, hopefully it wont take long to get back in the swing of doing everything 'BHS' - we had to practice grooming and tacking up the proper way and then going over leading and trotting up - my horse wouldnt trot, he kept pulling back and skitting to the side but even when RI did it she didnt get much more than a few strides of slow trot so i didnt feel so bad - he can be a bit odd like that - it was the same horse i rode last time in the dressage - but he probably had never really been trotted up before! Some of the horses were quite enthusiastic about it and then there was a few nice cobs who just trundled along nicely and then one other girl with a pony had the same problem as me. In the lesson J went very nicely, we mainly worked in walk and trot in open order and then did a short canter and started some work without stirrups - over my first hurdle! Hes very comfortable to sit to so i think that helped! I wasnt as nervous as i thought i would be considering i never do it. We just did walk and trot. My aim now is to practice this with murphy just to get really comfortable with it. I find that i bounce forward onto my fork and my legs swing back so we did an exercise (legs away from the saddle) to get us in a good position and i tried sitting straighter which tbh seemed to be the thing that made the most difference as J went into a lovely shape then and i felt really elegant! Plus i wasnt bouncing onto my fork anymore.

We have homework for next time on anatomy - as im studying beauty at the minute, and we have to know the muscles and bones in the human body among other things, im actually panicking a bit in case i end up getting horses and people mixed up! eek!

Stayed on to do the dressage in the afternoon and he wasnt too bad in the warm up, more relaxed than last time although he has an awful habit of napping towards other horses, he hangs towards them at times, mainly when hes not relaxed and riding nicely. Coupled with the drifting, i have some serious steering issues! Plus wobbly lines! This time i didnt go in first although he was much less busy and fizzy this week anyway. He went beautifully riding round the edge and then when i started he was resisting, drifting and his trot got sluggish but i was afraid to kick on as i was afraid of him getting silly and then taking ages to relax - hard to get the happy medium! However i somehow managed to get some lengthened strides having never attempted it before on him and that was my highest mark (7) and then the free walk was wobbly and not really free lol In the canter work, whilst i didnt get correct right canter the first time i got it in the next corner and rode on before he broke it! Unfortunately some steering issues going round the circle but managed to get turned ok for going across the diagonal although his ears were up my nose but as long as he was cantering i didnt mind! Then left canter was ok but not his best! good enough transition but he wasnt relaxed and we had steering issues again on the circle but got the diagonal line good. Then down the centre line, that was a tricky one, a bit wobbly but got a square halt despite being slightly off centre!

Didnt get placed, but RI was very pleased with my performance, although it didnt feel great to me but i suppose there was some good points in there that im pleased about! Judging was very harsh i thought - i got 55.8% and mostly 5s and 6s! was actually more disappointed i got 5 for my riding as i felt like i was working hard lol! Still its good to get a different perspective and if i had taken J out to an outside dressage comp i would have probably scored the same as he doesnt go straight and hes very inconsistent! I would probably have marked it similar to her tbh - after all she doesnt know the horse and is just marking what she sees. As long as she marks everyone the same it doesnt matter. However, not much encouragement or positivity in the comments section lol!

Sorry no pics or vids this time! Overall another fun day out!

[racaille]

Gosh a lot going on there! Sounds like the BHS stuff will fall into place quite quickly, no worries there.

And the dressage: well it does sound as though he just wasn' in the mood but well done for just carrying on - my coach is always telling me not to worry about things that I have messed up but to concentrate on the next thing and get that as good as it can be and it sounds like you were doing just that, which is brilliant.And harsh scoring can feel mean but as you say, it's interesting to get another persepective. But if your coach was pleased - she knows you and the horse - that's the main thing. She could see you were doing well with what you had (naughty 'oss!)

[fleabitten]

Yes a busy day! Thanks Rac for the positive comments, that's true. As long as RI is happy that's the main thing!

[brigadier]

Like above, lots going on but also lots to be positive about. Just enjoy.

[pboy]

It all sounds very busy! It brings back memories of my BHS training and all the 'particular' ways that they like to see things done. I can't believe anyone would really run a yard like that!!

Well done on persevering with the tricky horse too, it sounds like he's teaching you a lot even if it means you don't get the scores you'd like. Keep at it and I'm sure he'll build in balance and confidence.

[haffyfan]

I think your being a little harsh on yourself, i would say your instructor is very pleased with how you are challenging yourself with a more difficult mount and doing very well with it! It would be much easier to take the option of an easy ride and get the better scores but like pboy says above i bet your learning so much more and it makes that 7 all the more special. Think how proud you'll be when you get a great score on him!

[fleabitten]

pboy - i know its quite time consuming some of the things! we had 25 minutes to tie up, lift any dung in the stable, pick out feet, brush over, do mane and tail and tack up, i thought that was quite tight, esp as you had to run back and forward to get wheelbarrow, grooming kit, tack etc. but in the exam they dont get you to do the whole thing anyway, like in my stage 1 they just want to see a snapshot of you using the tools correctly and being safety conscious.

Yes, i picked him because i enjoy riding him and because he can go really nicely so theres the potential for a nice test at least haha! I think ive probably been more disappointed in the past at getting poor scores when ive ridden easier horses - i dont really mind not getting placed this time - i just thought oh well! I still had a fun day!

haffy - thanks for the lovely comment. Yes shes being really positive of my riding at the moment, she normally never says too much or goes overboard with the praise so it makes it all the better when she is positive! Youre right i am learning a lot riding him - very different to murphy, hes so light in the hand and forward going, so its a nice difference!

Next competition is working hunter but im considering taking a more straightforward horse for it as i havent done much jumping since jumping murphy, apart from little crosspoles, and J is basically the same when jumping - whizzy and drifting, so i think id rather ride something that i can focus on what im doing and give me a nice ride. But we will see who i get in my next few lessons as i would say we would be doing more jumping now in preparation for the working hunter.